Homemade ada,/coked ada,cut into very small pieces- 1 to 1.5 Cups( see notes)

Ghee - 3 tsp

Water - 4 cups( 1 ltr)

Milk - 4 cups( 1 ltr)

Sugar - 1cup( 200 gms or to taste)

Sugar,for caramel - 1 tbsp( optional)

Salt - 1 pinch

Instructions:

Heat ghee in a pan,add water and bring it to a boil.

Once it starts to boil,add milk .

Add 1/4 cup sugar and cook over medium heat,stirring continuously until it comes to a boil.

Reduce the flame to medium low and cook till the volume is reduced to half( i.e 1 Ltr) and slightly thick ,for about 45 minutes.Stir well in between to avoid burning.Next add homemade ada and mix well.(If you are using store bought ada,soak 100 gms ada in hot water for 30 minutes.Cook it until soft and wash using cold water to remove the stickiness,drain and add it to the reduced/thickened milk).Cook for about 10 to 15 minutes over medium low flame or until you see ada-flakes on the surface of the payasam.

Now add the remaining 3/4 cup sugar and mix well.(Start with 1/2 cup sugar and add more according to your taste.).Cook for another 5 minutes or until the payasam turns slightly thick.Switch off the stove and transfer the payasam to a serving bowl after about 10 minutes.

OPTIONAL STEPS-Traditionally ,while making palada pradhaman the quantity of water used is double the quantity of milk.i.e 2 Ltrs of water for 1 Ltr milk.The water ,milk( 2 Ltr water + 1Ltr milk) and 1/4 of the total sugar mixture is cooked until it is reduced to 30% of the initial quantity .i.e approx 900ml.When the water evaporates completely the colour of the milk changes to a pale pink.This may take almost 3 to 4 hours.However here i have reduced the quantity of water to 1 Ltr in order to cut down the cooking time and hence ,i could get only a pale cream colour ,as you can see in the picture above.In order to obtain the desired pale pink colour, caramel syrup can be added to the payasam.However the following steps are completely optional.

In a pan,melt 1.5 to 2 tbsp sugar .Gently swirl the pan for even cooking.

Cook over medium low heat until it turns deep amber.( make sure you do not burn it,or else payasam will turn bitter)Next add 1/4 cup hot water and mix well until combined.Switch off the stove and allow it to cool completely.

Add this caramel syrup to the payasam,starting with 2 tablespoons and add more as required.Mix well until combined.

Here you can see the colour difference before and after adding the caramel sauce.